Aug 3: I made it! YAY!!!

Well, I got to Cape Spear today and after having looked at the compass on the front of my bike pointing East all the way across the country, finally I got out to the point of land and the compass pointed East and there wasn't any more land. DONE!!

But a quick review of the last few days:
Aug 2: 52k to Whitburne, NL
Aug 3: 85k to Mile Zero, St John's, and then another 42k with going around town and then going out to Cape Spear in the afternoon/evening, for 127k overall.

The ferry to Argentia was great, I found a nice spot to sleep and we had nice views of the Burin peninsula and Avalon in the morning. Breakfast and lunch were free (because the ferry was late and slow, I guess) so I got two breakfasts and a lunch to fill me up. On the ferry I also met three other guys on bikes, two doing coast-to-coast, all with interesting stories - they were Mark, Donny and Jody, the latter going Toronto to St John's. That afternoon after getting off the ferry I went past Whitburne, passed 8000km and camped in a lovely forest with deep plush moss to sleep on, and I was up early and on the road by 7, all keen to get into town today. I came in on the Trans-Can and then Hwys 90 and then 60 through Conception Bay South and through Topsail and into town that way, which was OK enough, though mostly strip malls through CBS and into St John's, but fairly direct. I rode a few bits of the Trans-Canada Trail, both yesterday (a shortcut between Hwy 100 and Whitbourne) and a few bits today, and they were rideable (especially today - into town it seems to be all nice crushed gravel) but slower than the highway.

I got to town about 1:30 and rode down the waterfront looking for the Mile Zero marker, but I couldn't find it! so I went to the tourist info and it turns out it is not on the waterfront but a few blocks up, next to city hall, so I went there and Mark from the ferry had just arrived as well and was taking pictures with his family from town (he is an expat newfie) so I politely waited until they were done before taking pictures. The marker itself is kind of modest. Oh well. Mark's uncle, after we discussed how cool it was that some of his family were there to meet him, gave me his cellphone and said "call your mother!" I said, "oh I can't do that, it's long distance you know, in fact the most long distance you can get!" but he insisted so I called mum and dad from there, which was pretty neat. I also took photos at the Terry Fox memorial (not as big as Victoria's), at the only spot on the waterfront we could get our bikes down to to dip the wheels (and throw in the pebble, mum), and at the Mile Zero of the Trans Canada Trail.

The hostel in town let me camp in the backyard, and they didn't want to charge me, which is nice. After setting up there I went out to Cape Spear - easternmost point in North America - and back. Thank goodness I left my stuff in town and the bike was empty because there are three honker hills to get over on the way out! It is about 17k and it took me over an hour each way, with an unloaded bike.

And now I'm going to spend a couple of days checking out St John's before heading back to the ferry. I hope to get down to Cape St Mary's on the way.

It feels very strange to be here, end of the road and all. I still can't quite believe it's over, more or less - I still have to get to Halifax, but the point-to-point mentality is gone and I can relax and sort of do what I want, take a bus if I want to get somewhere fast, hitch rides, etc. Probably I'm not likely to do that, just ride all the way, but the point is that I could if I wanted to! I met a guy (named Andrew) in the hostel who has been exploring Nova Scotia and Newfoundland on bike for about a month now and is basically just going where he wants at whatever pace, what a nice way to travel.

Thanks everyone for emails and whatnot of support, it is really great to hear from people at home and hear what you have to think about all this. It still kind of boggles my mind. More updates whenever internet is available...

Mark

PS I won't be posting photos with my blog posts because that requires a card reader, which only Mary has. Sorry!!

Jul 30, 31, August 1: And now we separate

Well, a quick update from me while I wait for the ferry to Newfoundland.

On the evening of July 29 I had a fabulous evening camping on the beach in North Shore with Anna, Jay, Nathan and Natalie who were enjoying their last evening of a trip around the Cabot Trail. It was really fun to hang out with them and see them off the next morning on their return to Lunenburg, and I hope to catch up with at least Anna and Jay in Lunenburg in August or thereafter. Thanks again guys! And thanks to Paul at the pottery shop and Bill and Penela who graciously let us camp on their property down on the water. It was a simply beautiful spot, we saw whales (we think) and tons of seals and seabirds all evening off the beach.

July 30 all 5 of us rode down across the Englishtown ferry and went our separate ways once we hit the Trans-Canada highway again: I headed east to Jan and Alan's at Big Bras d'Or and they headed south towards Baddeck where their vehicle was parked, for the drive back home for them. I was sad to leave them, despite having only known them a day! After arriving at Jan and Alan's and reuniting with everyone, in the afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting the great Bobby Nagel (Alan's neighbour) and going with him, Alan, and Mary into Baddeck where we visited the Alexander Graham Bell museum. That evening the twins Lynne and Louise came over along with Bobby and we had a great feast.

July 31 was a day off (thank goodness) at the cabin, which we filled by going on a lovely hike to the Lighthouse trail along the coast starting across the harbour from the fortress at Louisbourg. It really was a spectacular hike and featured true Atlantic coast, sun and a bit of fog and picking bake-apples and other berries. That evening featured yet another feast featuring PEI mussels at Bobby Nagel's house, again with the twins visiting.

Aug 1: Today I am in North Sydney waiting for the ferry to Argentia, Newfoundland! Very exciting to be hitting the tenth province!! (well, I won't arrive until tomorrow). Sadly however the triumvirate is broken: Mike and Mary will be heading to Port-aux-Basques to cycle all of Newfoundland and perhaps go up to the northern tip, so they will be on the Rock for much longer than I will. I am not going to cycle all of Newfoundland so that I have time to go down to Halifax to meet Cathy. So leaving Alan and Jan's this morning was quite weird, as I was by myself for good once I left their driveway...

So, as for my future plans for the rest of the trip, I will probably be taking the ferry back from NL on the 9th, so I will just be cycling to St John's, staying there for a few days, and then returning (taking a different route) to Argentia for the return ferry to North Sydney. From there I'll have 6 days or so to bike to Halifax where I'll be meeting Cathy who will be arriving on the morning of the 17th. (I plan on taking the eastern shore route down the coast through Sherbrooke to Halifax). We'll be holidaying in Halifax and area and then PEI for two weeks and then I plan on either taking the train or flying back home on or around August 31st, which is when Cathy leaves.

So from now on if you need to get a hold of me email is the only option, and of course my access will be sporadic (as usual)... hopefully my next post will be from MILE ZERO in St John's NL!!

Ciao for now,

Mark

July 28 - 29: Finishing the Cabot Trail and on to Big Bras d'Or

July 28: Cheticamp to the Hideaway Campground and Oyster Market, South Harbour. 97 km 6:45 on the bike
What an heroic day! The ride along the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park was absolutely thrilling. In my opinion this was one of the highlight rides of the trip so far. The road hugs coastal mountains from outside Cheticamp all the way to Pleasant Bay and the views are superb. There are, however, a few hills to get up!

The first hill is French Mountain. We started this little pull right at sea level and went up 455 twisting metres to the summit. After this haul we were pleased not to descend all the way to sea level, because our next summit, Mckenzie Mountain, was coming right up. This peak is about 350 metres. The ride from here down to Pleasant Bay was a real spinner. We all got up to some fairly high speeds. I think I hit 65 km/hr (I am a coward with high speed, so this was absolutely ripping for me).

This morning we were riding once again with Wally, and on his road bike he could really really pick up speed on the downhills, but with our low touring gears our loaded bikes handled the uphills a bit more easily.

The flora highlight for the day was the hike around the bog trail on the top of McKenzie Mountain. I saw lots of hairy bog orchids and, my favourite, pitcher plants. The pitcher plant is a carnivore and derives a lot of its nutrition from insects that it traps in the "pitcher" and then dissolves and eats. On the fauna front we had one moose and about 15 pilot whales. We saw the whales from our lunch stop on a cliff-top at Pleasant Bay. They were close in to shore so you could see them with the naked eye, but using Mark's binos gave us an even better view.

The morning had been hot and muggy, but in the afternoon, as we started up the third big hill (North Mountain: 450 metres) it started to rain. This was a bit of a blessing because the temp dropped a bit and we had a slightly cooler assent. Lucky for that because the North Mountain ride from Pleasant Bay to the summit has some 12.5 percent grades. This would have been difficult to do in the blazing sun. The spin down from the summit was incredible -- excellent views of the geology in the area. We rode over a huge fault line, which is probably a continuation of the Great Glen fault in Scotland (back when the continents were close together).

We spent the evening at the Hideaway Campground and Oyster Market in South Harbour on Aspey Bay. Wally and Mike were also camped here with their rig. We had a huge communal oyster, snow crab, and lobster dinner where we managed to finish off even more of Wally's wine. The evening was clear and the stars were bright. We ended the evening listening to coyotes howl all around the Bay. Tomorrow would be on to the east side of the Cabot Trail.

ttfn
Mary

July 29: South Harbour to Big Bras d'Or 126 km 16 km/hr

The east side of the Cabot Trail is every bit as lovely as the west. We had another beautiful riding day with winds at our back and huge views at almost every turn. We were able to share another riding day with Wally. This time he took out his mountain bike instead of the road bike and he had a much more enjoyable time in the big hills. And we did have a few big hills to the west of Ingonish. The hill up to the top of Smokey Mountain was not too difficult of a pull, but a good sized hill none the less.

We had stunning views right down on the ocean-side to the north of Ingonish. Then it was on to lunch in town. After we fueled up at lunch it was time to go up Smokey Mountain to the Nova Scotia Picnic Park at the top. The ride was not too hard, and when we rolled into the Picnic Park we discovered four other cyclists taking in the view. All of the cyclists were recently working in Victoria, or students at UVic. I even recognized one of them - Nathan - from school. We were all heading the same direction so we made quite a troop as we raced south down from Smokey Mountain lookout.

Mark had friends in common with several of the riders and one of them, Anna, is friends with Charlie! What a small world. In any event, at around 3:30 they invited us to spend the evening camping with them. Mark took them up on the offer, while Mike and I decided to bee-line for Jan and Alan's place at Big Bras d'Or. Wally was meeting up with Mike at Indian River, and heading on to Baddeck. We parted ways with Mark riding on to join us at Big Bras d'Or the following day. Mark will report on his experiences a bit later.

Mike and I had a simply wonderful late afternoon cycle down to the Englishtown ferry (no charge for bikes!) and an easy ride up Kelly's Mountain. From here it was over the Seal Island bridge (not bike friendly) and into the waiting arms of Alan and Jan on the shores of Bras d'Or. After we parked our bikes the first thing we did was jump in the warm salt water for an evening dip. Then it was off to the dinner table for one of Jan's lobster stews. Sleep was easy coming that night. Here's to friends, old and new!
ttfn
Mary

July 26 - 27: Getting started on the Cabot Trail

July 26: Antigonish to West Mabou Harbour
117 km
6:24 on the bike
18.1 km/hr

Big rain in the night and on into the morning. It kept us in our tents until after 7:00 am. Then it eased enough for us to pack up and hit the road by about 9:15 am. Very warm and humid too. I cycled for the first 50 km of the day in my bathing suit. We were joined for our ride today by Wally. We met him yesterday on the road in Pictou. He ended up camping in the same Antigonish campground as we did. He has ridden across from Vancouver. Wally rides about 100 km per day. He is supported by his son Mike, who drives the RV. Since the campgrounds are spaced approx 100 km apart, and since we are all heading up to the Cabot Trail around Cape Breton Island, we decided to share some miles.

2nd breakfast was at the Dragon Fly Cafe outside of Antigonish. A bit early for 2nd, but we decided to take it. Then it was on to the Trans Canada Highway for the ride to the Canso Causeway that connects Cape Breton with the rest of Nova Scotia - we decided to bypass the scenic route, Highway 4, as the TCH would be significantly faster and we had some time to make up. The clouds were still hovering and rain was on the wind, but we didn't see any drops. The TCH here has a fairly good shoulder and what with the long, gentle rolls, we made excellent time to the Causeway. Bikers beware however, the Canso Causeway doesn't have any shoulder and the pavement is quite rough -- but it only lasts for a little while.

Unfortunately, Wally flatted twice and didn't catch up with us until our lunch break on the far side of the Causeway. By this time the clouds were starting to lift and we were beginning to get great views. Also, the road from the Causeway to Mabou (Highway 19) was very fast -- long rolls through little towns like Judique and Port Hood (by the way, if you listen to Canadian Idol, vote for Mitch -- he is from Port Hood and is quite the local celebrity). The countryside was really reminiscent of Scotland. The Scottish settlers arriving here must have thought they were back in the old country -- probably until they got their first taste of winter, apparently it can snow quite a bit here.

We pulled into our campground in West Mabou around 6:00. Wade and Mike kindly gave us a fine pasta dinner -- complete with lots of home-made red wine. It was a great ending to our first day in Cape Breton.
ttfn
Mary

July 27: 89km to Cheticamp
A beautiful day's riding on the edge of Cape Breton, with warm and sunny weather all day. After breakfast we took the highway through Mabou and up into a lovely Scottish-like valley before descending towards Inverness. On the way we stopped at the Glenora Distillery - Canada's only single-malt whiskey distillery for a quick peek (no samples, though). Brunch was in Inverness with deli sandwiches, as the only cafe in town was packed out. On the way into town I explored the last section of the rail trail that goes from Canso Causeway all the way to Inverness - it was a bit rocky and soft but quite nice, we had decided not to take it yesterday because of the poor surface. Too bad it doesn't go further, but the railway it is based on only went to Inverness to serve the coal mines there.

After Inverness the scenery just kept getting better as we continued, sometimes along the coast and sometimes inland, through the coast road to Margaree Harbour and joined up with the Cabot Trail proper up the coast to Cheticamp. Along the way was Joe's Scarecrows, a weird tourist attraction consisting of hundreds of scarecrows at a rest stop... quite odd, from a distance it just looked like a big crowd of people hanging out at the side of the road.

Camping is at Plage St Pierre on Cheticamp Island, and we were in camp before 4:00 so we had plenty of time to do laundry and hang out at the very nice beach. The water is superbly warm and the beach a very nice sand and the water is very shallow a long way out.

Tomorrow the REAL hills begin, north of Cheticamp. And this nice weather should hold out for most of the week.

Mark

July 22-25: A Few More Provinces

July 22: St. Louis de Kent to Shediac
102 km
5:43 on the bike
17.8 km/hr average
After an enjoyable evening talking with two fellow campers - Russ and Sue from Oshawa (solar homes in Ontario Cottage Country), it was up at 6:30 am for another day of Acadian Coast riding. This time we had the pleasure of a local guide for our ride -- Jean-Guy. At our parting yesterday Jean-Guy said that he had always wanted to do the ride from St. Louis down along the coast to Shediac, so we said "what about tomorrow?". He said sure, and Jean-Guy arrived at our campsite just after 8:00 am.

We set out together under an overcast sky with a few drops of rain, but with a good (most of the time) tail wind. The wind held and the clouds soon cleared and we had some sun for our ride. We used the coast road -- Highway 505. We went through Richibucto, Cap Lumiere, Bouchtouche, and Grande-Digue. The ride gave us a good look at working fishboats and small docks, estuaries, rivers, and sea side. At Cap Lumiere we had our first view of Prince Edward Island. The roads were in good shape and very quiet. I don't know why these roads are not crawling with cyclists! The views are superb, and the people very friendly. I think that New Brunswick is not promoted enough as a cycling destination province, but I'll certainly recommend it.

Riding in this area was very interesting. This is not a touristed area, so one downside is that there was not a coffee to be had between Richibucto and Bouctouche. But, since we were well off the tourist trail, we had a chance to talk with some residents. For example, the fellow in Richibucto-Village who has a brother, Alphonse, who lives in Ladysmith. And, when you travel with someone from the area, you get to meet his friends too. We stopped in at Saint-Edouard-de-Kent to say hello to Gilles and Rosemarie, brother and sister-in-law to Jean-Guy. As well, one of Jean-Guy's neighbours saw us stopped at the Bouctouche spit and dropped off a huge bowl of strawberries for us to eat. However, we didn't want to ruin our appetites because it was off to Bouctouche village for a lobster roll lunch -- very tasty.

Lest you think it is all about the food, I should mention that the estuaries, rivers, marshes, and dune enviornments on this coast are truely a Canadian gem. From the bayou-like salt marshes of Kouchibouguac National Park, north of Saint Louis, to the 12 km long dune spit outside of Bouctouche, this area is home to all sorts of shore birds, migratory birds, moose, bear, deer, etc. Highlight birds for us today included an osprey with a fish in its talons, heading for a nest.

We said goodbye to Jean-Guy (thank you for the good wine -- much appreciated with dinner) just outside of Shediac and quickly got a campsite just inside of the town. Hopefully we will meet up with him again next week when we are in Cape Breton. Right now it looks like a rainy evening in camp, so tarp and drying from the last rain are important. Tomorrow is a big day, we will be leaving New Brunswick and heading to PEI -- one province closer to our goal.
ttfn
Mary

July 23: Shediac to Cumberland Bay Campground, PEI
91 km
5:30 hours on the bike

Seven down and three to go! Today we left New Brunswick and went over the Confederation Bridge to PEI. Once again New Brunswick proved to have some world-class riding. We started off with some rain and cloud in Shediac, after a surprisingly quiet night (given that we were close to a road and some type of factory). Shediac is famous for its beaches, but no one was sunning themselves in the rain and cool temps of the morning. We stayed on the 133 highway through to Cap Pele, where we left for Highway 950 and the sea-side town of Petit-Cap. This quiet road took us by salt marshes and along the ocean front. It was very interesting to see the mix of working harbours, fish processing operations, and vacation homes all existing side by side.

We stopped for 2nd breakfast at Shemogue on Highway 15, then it was on to the quiet 955 for a seaside ride to the Confederation Bridge and PEI, our eighth province. We got views of the huge bridge well before we arrived at Cape Jourimain (where the bridge touches down on the NB side). It really is quite an engineering marvel, and goes hundreds of feet up into the air above the Northumberland Strait.

We had quite a wait at the New Brunswick Tourist Info for the bike van -- cyclists are not allowed to ride across the bridge, we have to be shuttled. However, while we were waiting I scored a full-sized New Brunswick flag. The one outside the Visitor Info station was a bit tattered, so one of the staff was taking it down for replacement. I asked what she was going to do with the old one and she gave it to me. New Brunswick's flag is very interesting. It has a griffin and a boat on it. None of us are sure what this symbolizes, but guesses of ties with Wales or Scotland, and possibly the John Cabot boat, are the best we can do.

Our first views of PEI featured looking back at the bridge over field and fields of, you guessed it, potatoes. We are now in camp on Cumberland Bay. It is still overcast, but the rain is holding off and we are going to have an early night. The bay is a place of complete quite. All we can hear is me typing and hundreds of birds singing.

Tomorrow we plan on visiting Charlottetown and taking in Province House. PEI looks to be as fine a place to ride as New Brunswick, and it has a bike trail running from one end to the other. We will probably ride on a small part of the trail.
ttfn
Mary

July 24: Cumberland Bay to Northumberland Provincial Park Wood Islands.
102 km
15 km/hr average

Today PEI dispelled us of one main notion -- the island IS NOT flat! At least not on the routes that we took. Keep in mind though that we were "off the beaten track" riding through some of the beautiful green and gold farmland of the south island. Our roller-coaster route took us along some of the red-dirt roads between Crapaud and Emyvale. We followed highway 235 (I think?) into Cornwall (our first big town of the day), and then hopped up on the Trans Canada Highway for a ride into Charlettown.

The TCH leads right to Province House where we had a fine tour of the PEI legislature. A beautiful sandstone building, stuffed with history and presided over by Parks Canada interpretive staff. The island had 27 MLAs and what I think is the smallest legislative chamber in all the country -- about the size of a coffeeshop. We were surprised to learn that PEI has the largest voluntary voter turn out in the democratized world. 90 percent of PEI votes in every provincial election. Also, at 34 Robert Ghiz is the youngest premier in Canada (even younger that the New Brunswick whippersnapper).

We had a quick bite of lunch on the benches outside Province House and then did a tour through downtown Charlettown and headed out east over the Hillsborough bridge to our destination for the evening: the Provincial Park at Northumberland, close to the Wood Islands ferry. On our way over the bridge we stopped to help a motorist in distress (a 911 call).

The afternoon riding was mostly on secondary grid road 26, after following the coast road out of Charlottetown and then the TCH for a bit. This was one of those roads designed by a planner in an office to go straight through the countryside, regardless of topography. It was another roller-coaster. I was less than impressed, especially as we rode by the Trans Canada Trail (a rail-trail -- more exactly, a FLAT rail-trail). However, the peek-a-boo views of classic PEI farmland from the tops of the hills were worth the effort.

Our camp at Northumberland was buggy, but had supurb access to the ocean. I went for a dip -- well, more like a wade.

PEI really is a wonderful place to cycle. Mark and Cathy will be back to do a bit more riding here next month, and I'm sure they will have a great time.
ttfn
Mary

July 25: 100km to Antigonish - 8 down!!! 2 to go!!!
Well, another day, another province. This morning we went down to the ferry terminal and spent some time at the tourist information checking email and asking the TI people everything we could think of to kill time before the 9:30 ferry, which we took to Nova Scotia!! Another province done, and boy was that one fast!!

Major irritation: Nova Scotia has no "Welcome to Nova Scotia" sign!!! Very irritating - I will have to take a picture at North Sydney (assuming there's one there).

We went into Pictou on the side roads and looked at the Hector replica (ship that original Scottish settlers landed on) and met Wally, who is riding from Vancouver (left early June) and is riding with a RV support across the country, but he skips parts, as he rides around 100km a day and then gets picked up and goes ahead to camping. He might ride with us tomorrow towards Mabou!
The views from Pictou were only spoiled by huge mills in the area.

We then went across the causeway and took the back road into New Glasgow, then we got a bit turned around trying to find Highway 4 out of town and ended up on the trans-canada for 10km, which was fast but uninteresting. By this time it was 2 or 3 in the afternoon and we had to get another 50km to Antigonish, which turned into a hot cycle along Highway 4 across the countryside. Nice countryside, very remote - all the towns on the map between New Glasgow and Antigonish are really nothing towns - just a few houses.

On the way into Antigonish I very nearly ran over a stupid chipmunk which refused to move until I nearly creamed him - and I couldn't dodge him because of traffic. Stupid chipmunk.

We are camping in the campground/cottage park called Widden's in downtown Antigonish - hopefully we'll get to near Mabou tomorrow on the coast of Cape Breton.

Mark

July 21: Kouchibouguac

122km to Saint Louis de Kent
We started today by cycling 10km west into Miramichi, then over the bridge, through Newcastle, and another 10km east out along the coast road (Water St which merged with 117 10km further up), and after about 25km I was on the other side of the river looking across to the campsite where we had stayed - kind of pointless, but there not being any boats to take us across the river that is what we had to do. Today we went around the coastal road through Bay St Anne and Escuminac, with lovely views of Miramichi Bay around to Pointe Sapin on the Gulf coast and finally through Kouchibouguac (Koosh-uh-buh-wack) National Park to Saint Louis.

The landscape around the peninsula was not what we expected - very flat, huge bogs (we past a peat-moss factory) with weird carnivorous plants (the bucket-type ones that trap flies) and scrubby alpine forest.

In Kouchiblahblahblah we met Jean-Guy from Saint Louis, who is a teacher (almost retired) who cycles and hikes every day and is super fit - he told us all about the park and guided us on the bike path through the park to the camping right outside Saint Louis. What a great guy! We hope to see him again tomorrow as he says he's interested in cycling down through Bouchtouche with us.

In the park we had noticed a few agressively anti-government signs on a house there, and Jean-Guy told us how when the park was created in 1971 there was a bunch of houses expropriated and one guy stayed and is still there, fighting in the courts to not have his land taken away (I guess he didn't think the compensation was enough?).

Tomorrow we'll be heading for somewhere near Shediac.

Mark

July 18-20: Some New Brunswick

July 18: Val-Brillant Quebec to Campbelltown, NB - Six down! Four to go!!
121 km
17.4 km/hr avg
6:58 on the bike

What a perfect morning! The sunrise streamed across the lake, arrowing in on the front door of our tent, lighting up the whole valley. Val-Brillant indeed! (although the town was named after a priest). This campground was one of the best we have been in -- quiet, good aspect, good facilities, and nice people running the place.

We had another great day on the road. Travelling on highway 132, and La Route Verte we travelled by some lovely little towns -- Amqui, with two covered bridges, Causapcal, on the banks of the Matapedia, and Matapedia itself, just at the border with New Brunswick.

The Matapedia river was our companion for most of the day. It is an Atlantic salmon river, and huge fish are caught by fishers quite regularly. We met a guide-outfitter (he used to be the head coach of the Rimouski Oceanic -- when they won the Memorial Cup in 2000). The water in the river was clear, with shady banks and a good gravel bottom. Seems perfect for salmon.

And finally later in the day we passed through Matapedia itself and over the bridge into New Brunswick. I really didn't want to say au revoir to Quebec. The Chemin du Roy, the South Shore, and the Gaspe were a wonderful introduction to Quebec history and culture -- I certainly want to come back soon.

In New Brunswick we were on the 134 highway into Campbelltown. What a rollercoaster-- but, as I often say, "pay your dues, get the views", and we got some great views of the Chauleur Bay from the top of Morrisey Rock lookout.

After some too-ing and fro-ing at the Campbelltown tourist info we ended up backtracking to Sugarloaf Provincial Park for some camping. The site ended up being very nice, and we met another touring cyclist - Steve from Olds Alberta. He was going from Moncton to Ottawa. After dinner, a bit of conversation, and a good shower (very important as far as I am concerned), we went hit the tents for a good night's sleep.
ttfn Mary .....

July 19: 99km to Petit-Rocher

Our first full day in a maritime province. How exciting to see non-Catholic churches and hear French and English intermingled.

After cycling back down into Campbellton we visited the tourist info to do some internet and contact Ken in Fredericton - and indeed he came up to camp with us tonight. Then we took the coastal road, route 134, along the coast of Chaleur Bay all day. The road has some very nice stretches and is mostly pretty interesting and very low traffic, and we passed through some pretty industrial areas with a few big mills and plants - Campbellton is fairly industrial and has a big mill, Dalhousie has two big mills, and we passed a huge lumber mill and a big coal power plant at Belledune. Our second breakfast in Dalhousie was in the one breakfast joint in town, and we had some interesting discussions with locals about our trip. Finally towards Bathurst the road gets into more cottage-like areas and there appears lots of camping. We are in Camping Marie-Helene (how could Mary-Ellen resist that?) and we finally caught up with Ken Kent - after doing some flooring in the morning he got on his motorcycle and road up and met us here after dinner.

And what a dinner! Our gracious host Pierre told us all about himself and the camping, set us up in a choice location right on the beach, got us a table, umbrella and chairs, and then came out with a big mackerel pie and a bottle of wine for us to enjoy! What a fantastic fellow. He even has a trampoline that we've been jumping on. Pierre has just taken Mary and Ken into town in his van to do some shopping (read: liquor store) and goodness knows what else he'll provide for us - we're hoping for a big breakfast or something tomorrow :)

Today we also learned that the motto of New Brunswick is "hope restored", in German. And nobody knows it because it isn't on the license plates.

And tonight I swam in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time! Isn't that exciting!

Mark

July 20: Petit-Rocher to Lower Newcastle, Miramichi
92 km
6:30 on the bike

Another morning in paradise -- I could get VERY used to this. We woke up as the sun slid through the morning mist, across the Baie des Chaleurs, and into our tent. Pierre, the owner of the Marie Helene (Mary Ellen en francais) campground thoughtfully brought fresh coffee to our tent-side at 7:30 am. Even though I don't normally drink coffee I had some -- it hit the spot. Mike, Ken, and I had been up very late the night before. Mark, surely the more reasonable of the group, went to bed at a reasonable hour. But, I do plead the lure of L'Acadie. We spent the evening at a big beach bonfire with about 20 Acadian folks who either live close to Petit-Rocher, or stay regularly at the campground. The drink was flowing pretty freely, but the amazing thing was the singing. Two guitars and many voices did all sorts of songs -- most in French. But, the best songs of all were the local Acadian folk songs, especially the song about Petit-Rocheur itself. Mike and I finally decided to call it a night around midnight, but Ken stayed on.

It was wonderful to have Ken drive up from Fredericton on his motorcycle and camp with us. We caught up on all the Kent family doings. It was too bad that Elizabeth and Hailey were not able to join us. Ken joined up for 2nd breakfast in Bathurst later that day.

Our ride for the day took us down Highway 134 through Beresford to Bathurst. Then, staying on the 134 we turned inland, cutting off the Acadian Peninsula. In retrospect I don't know if that was the best route as there were NO VIEWS! After a few weeks in Quebec and the last few days in New Brunswick, I am spoiled. I want to see ocean, beaches, rivers, cliffs, panoramas, that sort of thing. However, the route, with the exception of the small part we did on Highway 8, was very quiet and the road was a good one.

We ended the day's riding well with a pretty back-road route through Russellville and then on to Lower Newcastle and our camping for the evening. We were nicely in camp, with dinner just finished when a huge thunderstorm came rolling in. All three of us were caught out, and even though it was only a hundred metres to shelter, we all got soaked. So did our camp. Luckily, Mike and Mark decided to put up the tarp, so at least we had a relatively dry space to huddle under as the rain came down. The heavy rain lasted at least 30 minutes, after which it was just regular rain. Mark's tent has a leak, but he mopped up with his trusty towel, while Mike was out digging drainage ditches to stop the water from pooling beside our tent as it sheeted off the tarp. Although it was exciting, everything calmed down by about 9:30 and we all got into our sleeping bags and settled down for the night.
ttfn
Mary